Functional Properties and Molecular Degradation of Schizostachyum Brachycladum Bamboo Cellulose Nanofibre in PLA-Chitosan Bionanocomposites

The degradation and mechanical properties of potential polymeric materials used for green manufacturing are significant determinants. In this study, cellulose nanofibre was prepared from Schizostachyum brachycladum bamboo and used as reinforcement in the PLA/chitosan matrix using melt extrusion and compression moulding method. The cellulose nanofibre(CNF) was isolated using supercritical carbon dioxide and high-pressure homogenisation. The isolated CNF was characterised with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FT-IR, zeta potential and particle size analysis. The mechanical, physical, and degradation properties of the resulting biocomposite were studied with moisture content, density, thickness swelling, tensile, flexural, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, and biodegradability analysis. The TEM, FT-IR, and particle size results showed successful isolation of cellulose nanofibre using this method. The result showed that the physical, mechanical, and degradation properties of PLA/chitosan/CNF biocomposite were significantly enhanced with cellulose nanofibre. The density, thickness swelling, and moisture content increased with the addition of CNF. Also, tensile strength and modulus; flexural strength and modulus increased; while the elongation reduced. The carbon residue from the thermal degradation and the glass transition temperature of the PLA/chitosan/CNF biocomposite was observed to increase with the addition of CNF. The result showed that the biocomposite has potential for green and sustainable industrial application.     

Bimetallic Iron–Palladium Catalyst System as a Lewis-Acid for the Synthesis of Novel Pharmacophores Based Indole Scaffold as Anticancer Agents

The Friedel–Crafts reaction between substituted indoles as nucleophiles with chalcones-based benzofuran and benzothiophene scaffolds was carried out by employing a highly efficient bimetallic iron–palladium catalyst system. This catalytic approach produced the desired bis-heteroaryl products with low catalyst loading, a simple procedure, and with acceptable yield. All synthesized indole scaffolds 3a–3s were initially evaluated for their cytotoxic effect against human fibroblast BJ cell lines and appeared to be non-cytotoxic. All non-cytotoxic compounds 3a–3s were then evaluated for their anticancer activities against cervical cancer HeLa, prostate cancer PC3, and breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines, in comparison to standard drug doxorubicin, with IC₅₀ values 1.9 ± 0.4 µM, 0.9 ± 0.14 µM and 0.79 ± 0.05 µM, respectively, and appeared to be moderate to weak anticancer agents. Fluoro-substituted chalcone moiety-containing compounds, 3b appeared to be the most active member of the series against cervical HeLa (IC₅₀ = 8.2 ± 0.2 µM) and breast MCF-7 cancer cell line (IC₅₀ = 12.3 ± 0.04 µM), whereas 6-fluroindol-4-bromophenyl chalcone-containing compound 3e (IC₅₀ = 7.8 ± 0.4 µM) appeared to be more active against PC3 prostate cancer cell line.     

A review on recent advances in hierarchically porous metal and metal oxide nanostructures as electrode materials for supercapacitors and non-enzymatic glucose sensors

The remarkable significance of electrode materials in industrial processes, energy, sustainability and diabetes monitoring has captivated scientists to develop advance nanomaterials for the benefit of life across the globe. Here in, the recent developments in nanostructured porous metal and metal oxide composite materials for supercapacitor applications and non-enzymatic glucose sensors (NEGS) has been extensively discussed. The essential and active electrode materials from the research and application perspective has been emphasized in detail. We have also evaluated the worthiness, taxonomical classification, efficiency, specific capacitance and sensitivity of these materials for the aforementioned potential applications. Eventually, we concluded the review by providing the aspect ratio, surface morphology, particle size and specific surface area of these materials that plays an indispensable role for their promising potential applications.     

Synthesis,Antibacterial, and Antioxidant Evaluation of Novel Series of Condensed Thiazoloquinazoline with Pyrido,Pyrano, and Benzol Moieties as Five- and Six-Membered Heterocycle Derivatives

A novel synthesis of thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazolines 4(a–e), pyrido[2′,3′:4,5]thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazolines {5(a–e), 6(a–e), and 7(a–e)}, pyrano[2′,3′:4,5]thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazolines 8(a–e), and benzo[4,5]thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazoloine9(a–e) derivatives starting from 2-(Bis-methylsulfanyl-methylene)-5,5-dimethyl-cyclohexane-1,3-dione 2 as efficient α,α dioxoketen dithioacetal is reported and the synthetic approaches of these types of compounds will provide an innovative molecular framework to the designing of new active heterocyclic compounds. In our study, we also present optimization of the synthetic method along with a biological evaluation of these newly synthesized compounds as antioxidants and antibacterial agents against the bacterial strains, like S. aureus, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa. Among all the evaluated compounds, it was found that some showed significant antioxidant activity at 10 μg/mL while the others exhibited better antibacterial activity at 100 μg/mL. The results of this study showed that compound 6(c) possessed remarkable antibacterial activity, whereas compound 9(c) exhibited the highest efficacy as an antioxidant. The structures of the new synthetic compounds were elucidated by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR.     

Formulation of Piperine–Chitosan-Coated Liposomes: Characterization and In Vitro Cytotoxic Evaluation

The present research work is designed to prepare and evaluate piperine liposomes and piperine–chitosan-coated liposomes for oral delivery. Piperine (PPN) is a water-insoluble bioactive compound used for different diseases. The prepared formulations were evaluated for physicochemical study, mucoadhesive study, permeation study and in vitro cytotoxic study using the MCF7 breast cancer cell line. Piperine-loaded liposomes (PLF) were prepared by the thin-film evaporation method. The selected liposomes were coated with chitosan (PLFC) by electrostatic deposition to enhance the mucoadhesive property and in vitro therapeutic efficacy. Based on the findings of the study, the prepared PPN liposomes (PLF3) and chitosan coated PPN liposomes (PLF3C1) showed a nanometric size range of 165.7 ± 7.4 to 243.4 ± 7.5, a narrow polydispersity index (>0.3) and zeta potential (−7.1 to 29.8 mV). The average encapsulation efficiency was found to be between 60 and 80% for all prepared formulations. The drug release and permeation study profile showed biphasic release behavior and enhanced PPN permeation. The in vitro antioxidant study results showed a comparable antioxidant activity with pure PPN. The anticancer study depicted that the cell viability assay of tested PLF3C2 has significantly (p < 0.001)) reduced the IC₅₀ when compared with pure PPN. The study revealed that oral chitosan-coated liposomes are a promising delivery system for the PPN and can increase the therapeutic efficacy against the breast cancer cell line.     

Monitoring Imidazoline Derivatives via Functionalized Nano-Potentiometric Platforms in Aqueous Humor and Dosage Forms

The determination of two imidazoline derivatives [oxymetazoline HCl (OXY) and xylometazoline HCl (XYLO)] was described using different potentiometric platforms. The first electrode type was constructed using tetraphenyl borate (TPB) as anionic exchanger with β-cyclodextrins (β-CD) as ionophore forming oxymetazoline-tetraphenyl borate (OXY-TPB) and xylometazoline-tetraphenyl borate (XYLO-TPB), respectively. The second electrode type was prepared by modification of the first type by conjugation with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP) forming (OXY-MNP) and (XYLO-MNP). The synthesized electrodes were fully characterized. The effect of magnetic nano-sized particles as a highly dispersible material with β-CDs on the electrode characteristics was investigated and compared against the classical electrodes. The response time, working pH range and selectivity coefficients were studied. The functionalized nano-electrodes (OXY-MNP and (XYLO-MNP) were found to be more sensitive than the classical electrodes with linearity ranges (1×10⁻⁶–1×10⁻² M). The functionalized nano-electrodes were successfully applied for the in-line analysis of OXY and XYLO in pharmaceutical dosage forms and spiked rabbit aqueous humor samples with no prior extraction of treatment. This suggests the future use of these electrodes in clinical studies of both drugs of interest.     

Tuning protonation states of tripelennamine antihistamines by cucurbit[7]uril

The formation of host–guest complexes of cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) with the antihistamine drug tripelennamine (TRP) was studied by optical and NMR spectroscopy. The experimental and computational results are consistent with inclusion of a single TRP molecule in CB7. Addition of CB7 has tuned drug protonation states associated with (de)protonation of the ethyldimethylammonium and exocyclic nitrogens with an increase in the associated pK_a values by 1.5 and 2.5 units, respectively. The incorporation of antihistamines drugs such as TRP in cucurbiturils could be utilized for switching their capability for selective binding to histamine H₁‐receptors, in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental violation of Bell's inequality in spatial-parity space

We report the first experimental violation of Bell's inequality in the spatial domain using the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state. Two-photon states generated via optical spontaneous parametric down-conversion are shown to be entangled in the parity of their one-dimensional transverse spatial profile. Superpositions of Bell states are prepared by manipulation of the optical pump's transverse spatial parity-a classical parameter. The Bell-operator measurements are made possible by devising simple optical arrangements that perform rotations in the one-dimensional spatial-parity space of each photon of an entangled pair and projective measurements onto a basis of even-odd functions. A Bell-operator value of 2.389+/-0.016 is recorded, a violation of the inequality by more than 24 standard deviations.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of new 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives containing morpholine moiety

As trail to overcome on the antimicrobial drug-resistance problems, new functionalized 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives bearing morpholine moiety were designed and synthesized. The 2-pyridinone derivatives were obtained through the cyclization of cyanoacetohydrazone of 4-morpholinylacetophenone with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, α,β-unsaturated nitriles or 2-(arylidene)malononitriles. The 2-iminochromene derivatives were synthesized through the ring closure of cyanoacetohydrazonewith salicylaldehyde derivatives. The antibacterial and antifungal activities for the synthesized 2-pyridinone and 2-iminochromene derivatives were investigated. Most of the tested compounds showed moderate activity against P. vulgaris. Compounds 4a,b and 5a,b showed moderate activity against G −ve bacteria. All iminochromene derivatives showed moderate activity against C. albicans. Compound 8c was the most active compound.     

Influence of structural and chemical properties on electron transport in mesoporous ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cell

Ionics - Two chemical bath deposition (CBD) solutions were prepared at two different temperatures of 60 and 80&nbsp;°C for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application. The deposition time...